Reusable rockets? The future of spaceflight may be now, in Texas

SpaceX is changing the rocket game in a lot of ways — lowering costs, showing that the private sector can get it done, etc.

One of the cooler, and less discussed ways they’re also changing things up is by trying to develop the world’s first reusable rocket. To that end the company recently test-fired the first stage of if Falcon 9-Reusable rocket at its development facility in MacGregor, Texas. It released the video this weekend.

The company is trying to develop a rocket with which the first stage can be returned to the launch site within a few minutes, and the second stage returned within a day. Both stages would then be usable within about a day after their return. Test flights could begin within a couple of years.

The cool thing is that such rockets would probably be launched from the private spaceport that SpaceX is planning to build in Texas, Florida or Georgia.

How cool would it be to launch the future of spaceflight from the coast of Texas?